Colloquial Somali

Colloquial Somali: The Complete Course for Beginners has been carefully developed by an experienced teacher to provide a step-by-step course to Somali as it is written and spoken today. Combining a clear, practical and accessible style with a methodical and thorough treatment of the language, it equips learners with the essential skills needed to communicate confidently and effectively in Somali in a broad range of situations. No prior knowledge of the language is required. Colloquial Somali is exceptional; each unit presents a wealth of grammatical points that are reinforced with a wide range of exercises for regular practice. A full answer key, a grammar summary, bilingual glossaries and English translations of dialogues can be found at the back as well as useful vocabulary lists throughout. Key features include: - A clear, user-friendly format designed to help learners progressively build up their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills - Jargon-free, succinct and clearly structured explanations of grammar - An extensive range of focused and dynamic supportive exercises - Realistic and entertaining dialogues covering a broad variety of narrative situations - Helpful cultural points about life in Somalia - An overview of the sounds of Somali Balanced, comprehensive and rewarding, Colloquial Somali is an indispensable resource both for independent learners and students taking courses in Somali. Audio material to accompany the course is available to download free in MP3 format from www.routledge.com/cw/colloquials. Recorded by native speakers, the audio material features the dialogues and texts from the book and will help develop your listening and pronunciation skills.

Martin Orwin

Introduction 1 Is ka warran! How are you? 2 Subax wanaagsan Good morning 3 Bill iyo Zaynab Bill and Zaynab 4 Bill waa tegayaa geeska Afrika Bill is going to the Horn of Africa 5 Garoonka dayuuradaha The airport 6 Tagsiga The taxi 7 Hudheelka The hotel 8 Bill telefoon buu diraa Bill makes a telephone call 9 Bill lacag buu sariftaa Bill changes some money 10 Safarka baa la bilaabayaa The beginning of the journey 11 Tuulo baa la joogaa Staying in a village 12 Ma xanuunsantahay? Are you ill? 13 Jariidadda The newspaper 14 Raydiyowga The radio. Grammatical tables, Key to exercises, English-Somali glossary, Somali-English glossary